Very interesting...
I find it intriguing that so many people would bring so many games that are complex. Trapped on a desert island I would want simple games that enable me to generate stuff easily using only the one book. Anyone who brought D&D 3.x must have also brought the other dozen or so books they normally use with it. 4E would seem to have the opposite problem.
Just teasin'. Anyway, I tend to fall in with the simpler-is-better or one-book-is-all-you-need camp. My five would be...
1) Star Trek Role Playing Game (Last Unicorn Games)
2) Star Wars (West End Games)
3) Mutants & Masterminds (1st or 2nd Ed. - Green Ronin)
4) Ars Magica (4th Edition - Altas Games?)
5) I'd roll a D6 before I got on the boat/plane that marooned me on the island. Evens, Traveller - Odds, Wares Blade.
These are probably my top 5 favorite games under any circumstance so I could easily live happily ever after with my decision (up to and including the element of random chance). After all, if I didn't bring Traveller and I pined for it I'm sure I could modify one of the others...heheh.
AD
"Never Give Up, Never Surrender!"